2024 12 17 Packet website

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McMinn County Living Heritage Museum 
City of Athens Tourism Funds Application Detail 
De5tritH! Your Project: 
As a non-profit tourism-related facility, the museum operates throughout the year attracting visitors from around the U.S. 
and thus contributing to the local economy. In addltion to daily tourists visrtirg to learn about the rich heritage of McMinn 
County, we hold s.evera! annual evems including the Trade .:air, Quilt srow, History Home Tour, Trash and Treasures sale, live 
i.Jistory, and multiple i)rt shows. Also, every 3 years we host the USS Charles R. Ware reunion which brirgs !n hundreds of 
Navy veterans and their famlhe;; further boosting lodging, dining and shopping revenue for Athens. 
Spedffcally describe what aspects of your project you would spend the requested funds on: 
in conjunction with donations and membersnios, these tunds will be spent on operating costs for the museum, primarily 
salaries and expenses for our 1arger tourist events and their advertising. 
Describe how you will promote your project to attract tourists. 
We promote <H",d advertise our museum/programs in the Daily Post Athenian, the Morning Fax, radio stations, soda! media, 
ourweoslte and tourism publications. We also publish a weeldyfeature length article ir, the ::Jaily Post Athenian on the 
museum and its artifacts, To reach more people from out of the county we also advertise in Tennessee Home and Farm 
magazine, American Automobile Assoc:ation Living magazine, McMinn Life magazine, and the "Tennessee Overhi'l" and 
"Chattanooga '\low" community calendars. Finally, we are purchasing "ad boosting" on Face book and lnstagram where we 
can target specific areas for programs and significantly expand our reach to younger soc'al·medla users. 
Describe how you will promote lodging establishments. restaurants, and businesses located in Athens. 
We brought in 12,500 visitors to the m~seurn in 2023 from around the region. Many have just relocated to the area and 
orten ask about local restaurants, att~ctions and businesses. We also attract vlsitors from afar for our annual Trade Fair, 
Qui~ Show, and Trash and Treasvre sale. These visitors often lodge, shop and dine in Athens. We also just inauguratea our 
first "Welcome Wagon" museum tour and luncheon in February. We reach out to new residents of the county to int;oduce 
them to the museum, our history, city and county government, Athens City Schools, the Chamber of Commerce, and 
volunteer opportunities within the community. It was also a great opportunity to answer questions our visitors had about 
!ocal attractions, restaurants, businesses, etc. 
Describe the overall budget for your project and entire budget tom. 
Our Annual Operating 9udget for 2024 is $218,000funded by donations, memberships, grants and focal government. 
$31,000 total comes from the Cfty of Athens annually and is used for advertisi,;g, programs/evflnts, and sa;aries. Current 
oudget breakdown: $5,000 for adve•tising; $15,000 for programs/events; $8,600 for pro€ram/event salaries. 
Describe methods you will use to track tourilitS for the purpose of mandatory reporting, 
We track tourists from sig~ in sheets at the front desk and a door counter to captu,e the number of visitors, Visitors <!'re 
asked to sign in with their name, where thi:!Y :are fi'om, their email, how they heard about us, and whether they are lodging 
locally {jus,: added). 
Describe the prior success of your project in attracting tourists. 
Si'1ce 1986, the museum has attracted 569,000 visitors, approximately 15,000 per year. We estimate that approximately 25% 
of our annual visitors are from outside the city equ;;iting to an estimated $500,000 in local consumer spending annually. The 
Trade Fair, Quilt Show and Trash and Treasures Sale bring in many vlsitors from out of town and ofter, out of state, and the 
total numbers of attendees have been gradually increasing over the last tw::i years. 
Describe your target tourist audience, (loation, demographics, etc.) 
We target all visitors to McMinn County, and the general public at large, but we have several programs that ere targeted to 
families arid children, such as school tours, cr.ift dasses, and the 11:ids Connect after-school program dunrg the summet. 
What would you cut from your project lf vour application ls not fully funded? 
If not fully funded, we would have to cut all paid advertising and cut programs back by 25%, as the loss of advertising 
reduces paying customers and potential members who t--elp fund programs and operating costs. 
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